Glossary
This Glossary is provided to help guests understand more about the rental of inns, resorts and vacation rentals. It is not comprehensive but serves as a primer for terms guests may encounter in renting specialty lodging. Not all terms apply to all properties or managers.
Patient & Family Lodging
Traditional hotel or other facility that provides lodging to patients receiving care in the area or to their families. (Origin: Industry)
PayPal
A fast and convenient online payment service. (Origin: PayPal)
Peak Season
The primary travel season when occupancy and rates are the highest See also: Travel Seasons, Low Season, Shoulder Season (Origin: Industry)
Pet Deposit
Should a lodging facilty allow for pets they may require the guest to pay a significant deposit to cover any damage or excessive cleaning necessitated by the pets occupancy. Pet Deposits are usually refundable if no damage or effect occurs See also: Pet Fee, Pet Friendly, No Pets, Pet Penalty (Origin: Industry)
Pet Fee
If a lodging property allows guests to bring pets, they may charge a fee, usually daily, for that priviledge. Generally guests are also responsible for any damage they may cause. See also: Pet Friendly, No Pets, Pet Deposit, Pet Penalty (Origin: Industry)
Pet Friendly
A lodging unit which allows pets in the facility and on the grounds. There is often a deposit and/or a daily fee for allowing pets. See also: No Pets (Origin: Industry)
Pet Penalty
When a guest brings a pet to a facility designated as No Pets, a penalty fee is charged. To discourage unapproved pets, pet penalties are usually signifcant and utilized to retreat a room to counteract the presence of the pet and provide additional cleaning. See also: Pet penalty, Pet Friendly, No Pets (Origin: Industry)
Pool Fee
A certain amount above and beyond the rental rate charged to renters wishing to use the heater on your pool or hot tub. (Origin: Industry)
Property
A hotel, motel, inn, lodge, vacation rental or other accomodation facility. (Origin: Industry)
Property Manager
A person or company who manages real estate including commercial, residential and other properties. Also an alternate term for a person who owns a local vacation rental company in a geographic location, that is a member of the Sunspots Network. See Network Member. See also: Network Member, Networker, Manager, Network Operator (Origin: William May)
Property Survey
A periodic inspection of a property, usually twice a year but can be more or less often. The purpose is to determine what housekeeping, repairs or maintenance a property should have completed. These include high priority items for safety purposes, to preferred maintenance for guest comfort to recommended improvements that might increase rates or occupancy. See also: Maintenance, Repairs, Housekeeping (Origin: William May)
Province or State
See State See also: Country, Destination, Location (Origin: William May)
Quote (Booking)
Prior to receiving a guest's approval for purchase, a booking can be completed as a Quote to display all related detailed. This is NOT a commitment to sell the dates. Our software used this word as a Booking Status See also: Abandoned, Aborted, Blocked, Cancelled, Confirmed, Order, Hold, Incomplete, In Error, Out of Service, Unblocked (Origin: William May)
Rack Rate
The rate accomodations quote to the public. Group rates, convention, trade show, meetin and incentive travel rates are negotiated by the hotel and program organizers. (Origin: Industry)
Re-Sellable
When a booking for lodging property is non-cancelable it may instead, be re-sellable. In that case, an owner or manager agrees to attempt to resell a guest's booked dates and, if successful refunds the guests payment usually less a fee for the resell process. (Origin: Industry)
Referral
A booking that results from the referral of a friend, neighbor, or past renter. (Origin: Industry)
Refund
A payment to the guest for amounts paid toward lodigng property bookings and after charges for rent, services, fees or other charges. A common type of refund is for the return to guest of a security and damage deposit they have paid. (Origin: Industry)
Registration
The process during which a guest checks into a lodging unit and registers as being in occupancy. Also the form used during the registraiton process. (Origin: Industry)
Rent By Owner
A property that is rented directly from the owner, rather than through a property management firm. Also refers to websites which offers homes directly from owners. (Origin: Industry)
Repair
The work necessary to return property, equipment or amenities to their original condition to do damage caused by owner, guest or other situations. Usually charged to the person responsible for the damage. See also: Maintenance (Origin: Industry)
